Crazy is normal at the Bell's house, especially during the holidays. Kate usually loves this time of year when the family is all together and having fun, but when Jordan brings home his new girlfriend, things get crazier than normal. Two-shot.

My five year old brother stopped and glared at me. "Triceratops' don't eat meat! They're herbivores!"

I wrinkled my nose. "Fine, I'm a pterodactyl, then."

Owen shook his head. "They fly, and you can't."

I put my hands on my hips. "Well, what do you want me to be?"

He put his finger on his chin. "A bunny!"

Before his request could sink in, he took off, giggling like the little maniac he is.

"A bunny?" I yelled with a laugh, running after him. "Get back here!"

We ran through the halls, giggling like little kids and dodging our other siblings.

"Mom!" Morgan, my 12 year old sister yelled. "Kate and Owen are running in the house again!"

"Morgan, don't be a tattle tale," Mom yelled back. She popped up in front of us. "And you two, stop running."

"Ok," we said in union right before taking off again.

"Kate!" Mom yelled.

I ignored her and tackled Owen in the living room. "I got you now!" I yelled just before tickling him.

He screamed. "Help! I'm being attacked!"

I laughed evilly. "No one can save you now!"

"Kate, let him go, his screams are giving me a headache."

I glared at my 16 year old little sister, letting my hold on Owen loosen. He took off screaming and laughing. "Go somewhere else."

She glared back at me. "Why do you always act like such a kid?"

"Because she is."

I turned my glare at my big brother's best friend, ignoring the tingle I felt at the sound of his voice. "Then you are, too."

"Legally, I've been an adult for almost two years now," Eddie said.

"And we've yet to see you act like one," I said.

"Nobody said acting like a kid was bad," he said with a smirk.

"I did," Taylor interjected.

"Nobody cares what you think," I snapped, annoyed.

"Don't be so rude, Kate," Eddie said.

I blushed. "Whatever."

"Kate, are you going to play with me?" Owen asked, walking into the living room. I was just about to answer him when he spotted Eddie and his whole face lit up. "Eddie!" He jumped into his arms. "When did you get here?"

He laughed, picking my forty pound little brother off the floor. "Just now. What have you been doing, buddy?"

"Playing dinosaurs with Kate!" Owen said excitedly.

Eddie smiled over at me. "Can I play?"

Owen nodded his head. "I'm a T-Rex, Kate's a bunny, and you can be a pterodactyl."

I gasped. "But I was going to be a pterodactyl!"

Eddie laughed and put Owen back on the ground. "A bunny?"

I stood up, ignoring Eddie. "I'm going to get you, Owen."

He screamed and started running.

"Kate," Mom called. "Please come help me set the table!"

"But, I'm playing with Owen!" I whined.

"Don't argue with me."

"Where's Jordan?" Taylor asked.

Jordan was our 19 year old brother and Eddie's best friend since forever. Ever since Jordan brought Eddie home, he's been a part of our family and has always been over for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. The fact that I've had a crush on him since we were first introduced cannot be discussed because of Jordan's over protectiveness. I hate brothers sometimes.

"Still in the car with Angel," Eddie answered. And now, Jordan's decided to bring his latest whore-ehem-girlfriend to dinner too.

"Come play with me!" Owen called from the top of the stairs.

"Come set the table," Mom called from the kitchen.

"Dad and Jordan aren't even here yet," I argued.

Just then, the door opened and I heard my dad call out "I'm home!"

Stomping could be heard from upstairs, and before I could get out of the way, all of my siblings were storming down the stairs and straight for Dad. Eddie and Taylor both started cracking up.

"Shut up, this isn't funny," I snapped, and headed for the kitchen.

Every Christmas Eve, we have a big dinner with all the mashed potatoes and turkey and yummy stuffing. It's been tradition for as long as I can remember, and I'm almost just as excited for it as I am for our traditional Christmas breakfast. But for some reason, I was the one who always got stuck setting the table.

"Dinner!" Mom called when I finished setting the last fork down.

People started filing into the dining room and sitting at their places. We were assigned by age and usually I sat by Jordan and across from Taylor when he and Eddie were visiting. But Angel messed it all up, and I ended up sitting across from her and between Eddie and Chelsea, my 14 year old sister. Chelsea's twin, Brandon, now sat next to Taylor and across from Morgan. Mom and Dad were at each end of the table and Owen and Alvin, the two year old baby, sat closest to Mom.

For most of dinner, we talked about school and what Dad did at work. It was nice to talk and laugh with each other, but occasionally I saw Angel give Eddie a look that I didn't like.

Near the end of dinner, she was looking at him again, but this time it was even worse. I was rolling a piece of corn around in my fingers, watching her carefully and wondering how anybody could miss this. She wasn't being very subtle. I looked at my piece of corn and then back at Angel, contemplating whether it would hit her if I flicked it.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Taylor watching me. Making sure nobody else was looking, I looked at her with questioning eyes, showing her what was in my fingers and looking back at Angel. She grinned and gave me a nod.

I bit my lip and looked at Angel. Without another thought, I flicked my piece of corn at her. I got her right in the forehead.

She gasped and glared at me. I couldn't help the huge grin that spread over my face and I tried to hide it by pretending to wipe my mouth. I could hear Taylor trying not to laugh.

By now, Morgan and Chelsea were looking at us, wondering why Taylor was giggling. Brandon was trying to help Mom get Alvin and Owen to eat their food, and Dad, Jordan and Eddie were still obliviously talking to each other about some action movie that was coming out.

Angel mouthed something at me that I didn't quite read and before I could see it coming, mashed potatoes were flying toward me. This time, she also got Eddie.

Eddie looked at his shoulder in shock as everybody who saw it started laughing. I was just as shocked as Eddie. I wasn't expecting her to throw mashed potatoes. In retaliation, I picked up my own mashed potatoes.

"Kate!" Mom yelled, but it was too late. They were out of my hand and flying toward Angel.

They hit her right in the face, but some of it splattered onto Taylor. Morgan decided she wanted to have some fun, too, and threw her stuffing at me. I ducked under the table.

Mom was screaming at everybody to leave the food alone, but I guess everybody decided to join in because food was flying everywhere. I heard Angel scream and Morgan give her evil laugh. Taylor was also laughing and I could hear Alvin giggling in glee. I cursed myself for not grabbing the camera. I liked to record our family quarrels and put them on YouTube. This one would have gotten a lot of hits.

Suddenly Eddie was crouched next to me, a grin on his face.

"Did you plan this?" he asked.

I laughed. "No, it was spur of the moment." I brushed some mashed potatoes out of his hair. "I didn't like the way Angel was looking at you."

He smirked. "Were you jealous?"

I blushed, taking my hand back. "No."

The screams above continued. I wasn't paying attention because Eddie was grinning bigger and getting closer.

"You were jealous," he said.

I shook my head, trying to keep my blush down to a minimum. "Don't be cocky."

"And now you're blushing."

I covered my cheeks in an attempt to cool them down. "It's just hot in here," I denied.

Eddie took my hands away. "You're definitely blushing."

Of course now that he was holding my hands, my face burned hotter. His face was only a couple centimeters from mine caused my mind to blank and I didn't know what to say. I think he was about to kiss me when we heard my dad yell out "That's enough!"

Eddie and I separated as the screaming slowly came to a stop.

"Kate, Eddie, get out from under the table," he snapped.

We did as he said and as soon as we were out, I burst out laughing. Dad was covered in gravy. Morgan had somehow ended up on the other side of the table also covered in gravy and little strips of turkey. Jordan was trying to help Angel clean off all the mashed potatoes in her hair. Taylor and Chelsea were glaring at each other, and Brandon was glaring at me, each of them with bits of food clinging to them. And to top it all off, Alvin had his own bowl on his head and was giggling.

But the look on Mom's face sobered me up quickly.

Dad gave me his signature 'You are in deep doo-doo' look before saying, "I want everybody, except Owen and Alvin, to clean this place up. When I come back to check in half an hour—"

"Half an hour!" Morgan interrupted. "But, we can't clean this up that fast!"

"Fine, twenty minutes," Dad said.

"Shut up, Morgan!" Brandon and Taylor yelled at the same time when they saw her open her mouth.

"When I check back here," Dad continued, "I expect everything to be spotless. And when you are done, each of you will write a one page apology letter to your mother." He turned to me. "And you will spend the rest of the night in your room."

I opened my mouth to complain, but he interrupted me.

"And if I hear one word of complaint out of your mouth, I will make you clean up Christmas breakfast and dinner, all by yourself. Get to work."

"Thanks a lot, Kate," Morgan spat.

I rolled my eyes. "Angel started it."

Both Angel and Jordan glared at me.

"Dad, can I take Angel home?" Jordan asked. "She needs to clean up."

Dad stared at her for a couple of seconds before relenting. "Fine."

I glared at them as they started to walk away and was tempted to throw more food at them, but Eddie gave me a look.

By the time Dad came back, twenty minutes later like he promised, we were still washing walls and all the dishes, but we were all laughing about the fight. Dad banned us from the pies Mom made and sent me to my room and Taylor to go help Mom wrap any leftover presents. Everybody else had to finish cleaning the kitchen.

I went to my room that I shared with Taylor in a relatively good mood. I felt guilty about ruining Mom's dinner, but the fight was awesome. How many people can say that they started a food fight? I did hide, but at least I didn't get too messy. All I needed to do was change my shirt. I just got into my PJs.

I had been relaxing for about five minutes when there was a knock on my door. Grumbling, I rolled off my bed and answered it. It was Dad.

"Why did you throw food at our guest?" he asked, coming into my room.

I shrugged. "I don't like her."

Dad looked at me with as incredulous look on his face. "You don't throw food at them! You are seventeen years old; I would expect you to know this."

"But I only flicked a piece of corn at her!" I defended. "She was the one who overreacted and threw the mashed potatoes at me."

He shook his head. "You could have stopped it by not doing anything."

I rolled my eyes. "You would have done the same thing if you saw the way she was looking at Eddie."

Dad paused and raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

I blushed, realizing what I'd just said. "I was protecting Jordan. He doesn't need a girlfriend that covets his best friend."

"Uh, huh." I could tell he didn't believe me. "You're still grounded for the night, even if you thought that flicking corn at Angel would keep her away from Eddie."

"Well, she's not an angel, that's for sure," I said as he left my room. I heard him chuckle and jumped on my bed with a smile. Dad can never stay mad at me for too long.

Ten minutes later there was another knock on my door.

"Hold on," I groaned, rolling out of my bed. Now what?

I opened my door expecting to see Dad, but was instead met with the lovely eyes of Eddie.

"We need to talk."

I cocked my eyebrow. "What about?"

"Can I come in?" he asked.

My other eyebrow rose. "No, sorry, you know the rule." No boy in our room, no girl in the boys' rooms. Even though Jordan broke that rule all the time when he was still living with us, I wasn't going to make things awkward if Dad caught us in my room together, alone.

He sighed and looked around, making sure nobody was listening. Satisfied, he looked back at me and said, "Jordan wanted me to tell you that he hates you."

I waited for a few seconds for him to say something and when he didn't, I started to close my door. "And I hate his girlfriend, thanks."

The door stopped and I didn't need to look down to know that his foot was blocking the door.

I opened it again. "Yes?"

"We need to finish our conversation from earlier."

"If you're talking about the one under the table, I don't consider that much of a conversation," I said. "More like you trying to tease me."

He smiled.

I continued. "Besides, even if it was a conversation, it's already finished."

He shook his head. "Not even."

Before I could demand that he explain himself, he was kissing me.

Usually, when somebody kisses me without my permission, I kick them where it counts. Not really, seeing as I've never been kissed before, but that's how I always played that scenario out in my mind. I didn't count on that someone being Eddie, my brother's best friend who's been a part of the family since forever and who I've had a crush on since I could have crushes. Of course I could never act on my feelings because I knew I was just the childish best friend's little sister, quite possibly a little sister already, and Jordan would kill him. So I only let my journal know that I would love to kiss Eddie senseless and have his children. I only talk about him in every entry I write, but that doesn't mean anything.

Since I was an inexperienced, surprised little girl, I wasn't contributing much. In fact, I was paralyzed. Eddie pulled away and looked at me for a second. He opened his mouth, but I interrupted him.

"If you say you're sorry, I'll knee you just like I always imagined doing to someone who did exactly what you just did."

He chuckled. "I was going to say that I don't hate you."

"Oh good," I said. "I was a little worried for you." I looked around to check if anybody was watching. I didn't see anybody, but in this house you could never be sure. "Why'd you kiss me?" I whispered, still searching for any spies.

He took my chin in his hand and guided my head up. Taped to my doorway was a piece of mistletoe.

"That and I don't hate you," he repeated. "I kinda like you, a lot."

I blushed. "Who put that there," I mumbled. I looked at Eddie accusingly. "Did you put that there?"

He shook his head. "I just figured it gave me a good excuse to kiss."

I was suddenly very nervous. What did that kiss mean? "Well, I gotta go," I said hurriedly. "I've been grounded and all."

Eddie grabbed my hand. "We're not finished."

Just then Mom called his name from her room.

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Yes, mother?"

I giggled a little. It sounded weird when he called her that.

"Would you come help me?" she asked. "Taylor disappeared."

He gave me a look that clearly said that he wasn't done with me. "Coming!" he called. To me he said, "We'll talk about this later." He gave me another quick kiss before heading off to Mom's room.

I shut my door and stood there for a moment, wondering if what just happened was real. I pinched myself, determined it was real, and jumped in bed. Only in my wildest dreams did I hope he felt that way about me. And what's going to happen now? What will Jordan do? What will Dad do?

I rolled over with a sigh. I would just have to talk to him about it tomorrow.

---

I'm sorry if this was confusing, I wrote it for my friend as fast as I could because I knew I wouldn't see her until after Christmas, but I wanted to let her read it as a Christmas present. She told me that all the characters were confusing, but I have no time to edit this first part, so I will explain them.

Jordan is the oldest of the Bell family at age 19. Eddie is his best friend who is also 19. Angel is Jordan's girlfriend and she is 18. Kate is the second born and she is 17. Taylor is next and she is 16. Chelsea and Brandon are twins and they are 14. Morgan is 12. Owen is 5 and Alvin is 3 or 2, I can't remember.

I haven't had time to edit this first part and I forgot that I changed people's name, so I might have a random name in there. Jake is Owen, Mark is Brandon, and Jackie is Chelsea.

Ok, I hope I've straightened most of this out. If you have any questions or concerns please let me know so I can fix it.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.